Weird news

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A seven-year-old Indiana boy has been earning money to buy Christmas toys for other children as an honorary employee at McDonald's.

The youngster, Trenton Gardner, tells WTHI-TV that wiping tables at the fast-food restaurant in Bicknell, Indiana, is the "coolest job" he's ever done. His mother, Lindsey Gardner, says her son's inspiration came from learning that some children's families couldn't afford toys.

He wanted to earn money so he could help. It took time to convince McDonald's General Manager, Rhonda Butler. She says the boy was so determined she made him an honorary employee, and gave him his own apron, name tag and hat. The restaurant donated toys to his effort.

Last week, the boy and his family dropped off a truckload of toys to a local charity.

The parcel of broken wings and dead canaries that arrived in an Alabama woman's mail has been replaced by the cheerful chirps and tweets of brand new birds live ones.

The US Postal Service paid for seven new canaries plus the postage needed to send them to Rhonda King, who operates a hair salon in Grant, Alabama, postal officials said.

King was crestfallen earlier this month when she received a half-dozen dead canaries in a package marked with tire tracks.

Now, the avian horror of that first delivery has been replaced by soothing orchestral music, King said. The sound made by a canary is one thing she loves about them, but even better is the combined song produced by a flock, she said.

On Thursday, like seven small mythical phoenixes who rose from the ashes, the new birds arrived in Grant where King lives.

"They're beautiful birds," King said a few hours after their arrival. "They're just picture-perfect!

"It's not going to replace the other birds, but they did the next best thing and I'm proud of them," King said of the Postal Service.

Ant and Dec have been voted the most desired celebrity flat mates.

The I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Out of Here! hosts have not long finished filming the ITV reality series out in Australia, but it turns out that back home the majority of the public think they would make good housemates, according to a poll by furniture store ScS.

More than half (58 per cent) of the people who voted the Geordie duo, renowned for their on-screen banter, as having good roommate qualities due to their mischievous nature with 41 per cent saying they would make funny drinking partners.

Kevin Royal, the managing director at ScS, said: "We all have a list of celebrities who we'd like to invite to a dinner party, but how about actually living with a star? It's no surprise that our favourite Newcastle lads, Ant and Dec, have made the top spot. The funny twosome would make for some great banter and we're sure they would know how to throw a party!

Santa Claus' Facebook account has been reinstated after the social media company suspended his access and demanded proof of identity on Christmas Day.

Claus, a North Pole city councilman, said he was never given a reason why his page was blocked. He said he thought Facebook didn't believe his name was Santa Claus or that he lived in the North Pole.

A Facebook spokeswoman apologised in an email on Tuesday for suspending Claus' account, and said it was done by mistake.

"The account was removed in error and restored as soon as we were able to investigate," the company said in a statement. "Our team processes millions of reports each week, and we sometimes get things wrong."

To get his account reinstated, Claus said he sent multiple documents proving his identity, including copies of his Alaska driver's licence and letter of appointment to the North Pole City Council. Claus said he is the only Santa Claus on Facebook who resides in the city and legally goes by the name.

"I just can't believe somebody, particularly on Christmas, would take me to task," he said.

Claus, who goes on his Facebook page regularly, said he uses the social media platform to share "nice quotes" and interact with people. His page has more than 300,000 likes.